Marine fire-indicating system and extinguisher.



No. 892,088; iATENTED JUNE 30, 1908. W. RICH.

MARINE FIRE INDIOATING SYSTEM. AND BXTINGUISHER.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM RICH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MARINE FIRE-INDICATING SYSTEM AND EXTINGUISHER.

' No. 892,088. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 30, 1908. Application filed September 26, 1907. Serial No. 894,657.

To all whom it may concern: these pipes, and also the pipes 6, may be num- Be it known that 1, WILLIAM RICH, a citibered, or marked in any suitable manner to zen of the United States, residing at New indicate the particular hold ,or bunker to York, in the county and State of New York, which -it leads so that should any smoke issue have invented certain new and useful Imfrom one of the pipes, the locatlon of the fire 0 provements in Marine Fire-Indicating Syswould be known instantly. tems and Extinguishers, of which the follow- As shown in the drawing, the fan 9, is ing is a specification. adapted to be run electrically every, fifteen This invention relates to apparatus for'inminutes, the current being turne on by 10 dicating the presence of fire in the different means of a wheel 13, mounted on the hour 5 holds, or 'bunkers of a ship, and to means shaft of a clock 14, and carrying four pins 15, combined therewith to extinguish any fire adapted to engage the contact brushes 16, .thus discovered, or which may be developing for several minutes while passing the same in any of the holds, or bunkers. thereby completing the circuit, and breaking 5 This invention is designed as an improvethe same when be ond the contact point, as

ment on Patent Number 678,787, granted will be understood July 16, 1901, and owned by the Rich Marine In operation, the station box is located at Fire Indicating System Company. any convenient point on, a ship; and when The objects of this invention are: first, t0 the clock 14 is in'operation, the circuit will 0 provide a system of the character described be closed everg; fifteen minutes, and the fan 9 so constructed that an' extinguishing apparawill run a su cient length of time to draw tus maybe connected therewith, and, second, air from every hold or bunker of the ship. to provide an improved system of electrical Mounted within the box is a light bulb 17, control whereby the apparatus may be made which is lighted when the current asses to 25 more effective. operate the fan, and this not only ca ls attenso The invention is illustrated in the accomtlon' to the fact that the fan is being operated;

panying drawing in which but will enable the officer to see the smoke Figure 1,. is a diagrammatic view of a should any be drawn through one of the pipes ship, and of my improved apparatus applied and the li ht not be sufficient to see it other-.

0 thereto; Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the wise. A bell 18, is also provided to call the station box,the doors being open to show attention of the officer to the operation of the the apparatus connected therewith; Fig. 3, fan. As shown in the diagrammatic V ew,

is an enlarged view of one of the pipe ends, Fig. 4, this bell may be cutout by a switch and a sectional view of one of the flaring ob- 19, should it be desired to eliminate the noise 35 servation pipes; Fig. 4, is a diagrammatic of the bell. view of the system of wiring; and Fig. 5, is a. To rovide ready means to extinguish the detail view of the clockcontact mocha]: fire, s ould any develo in one, or more of In the drawing, like numerals of refer the holds, or bunkers, have so constructed refer to the same parts in each of the views; the apparatus that any individual pipe 6, 40 and in practice I rovide a station box 5, into ma be quickly connected with a steam pipe, which are led a p urality of pipes 6, from the and j steam may be assed through the plpe 6 several holds or bunkers, as indicated in to that particular old or bunker to extradotted lines in Fig. 1. The pipes 6extend up guish the fire. As the access of air to the Within the station box through a floor 7, holds or bunkers is usually very limited, I.

45 which is close fitting about each pipe, so that find it is usually a very easy matter to extln- 10c when the door 8, is closed, and suction is a guish a fire that may develop, especlally as plied to the pipes by the fan 9, air will o a fire could not gain very much headwa drawn through the pipes from the several before being discovered. Even where air is I holds or bunkers, and not from outside the admitted to the hold more or less freely,

5o station box. steam can be driven into the hold with such On the top of each pipe 6, I mount an obforce that almost any fire will be extingulshed servation pipe 10, having a flaring end 11, so in the first stages. With this object in View,

' disposed that any smoke issuing therefrom Ihave provided the top of each Ipe 6, with may be readily observed through the glass a screw-threaded portion 20, an the obser- 55 panel 12, in the door 8, and it is obvious that vation tube, or pipe 10, is so constructed that 1 1o use a flexible secured a rigid I it is an easy matter to g contact points,

- I shown the system of wiring,

I willbe seen that independent pi e, this observation pipe which connection may be made with the part the steam pipe at v 30 operating the an, I am able to make and T seaose said box, means tomake visible any vapor issuing from any of said pipes and means to connect a steam pipe with any of said pipes.

2,. In a marine fire indicating system, a station box, a lurality of pipes leading thereinto, each 0 said pipes having a screw threaded end, an observation tube slidably mounted on the end of each pipe, and a flexlble steam pipe adapted to connect with any of said pipes. I

3. In a marine fire indicating system, a tube leadin from the station box to the hold\ it will slip over this screw-threaded portion, and be held thereon by friction, so that when it is desired to connect the pipe with a steam ma be removed without any loss of time, and t e steam pipe maiy be connected.

n connecting the steam pipe, Inprefer to tube 21, to the end of which is tube 22, having an elbow 23, and on the end I mount a union24, with 20, of the tube 6; and steam maybe admitted by the valve 25, which is within'easy reach 0 the o erator.

It wil thus be-seen that I have provided ready means to extinguish any fire which may developinany part of the ship, such means being within reach of the observation oflicer who is also possessed with means to or bunker o a ship, said tube having a screw threaded end, an observation tube slidably observation tubehaving a flaring end, and a steam pipe adapted to be connected with said screw-threaded end when said observa-. tion tube is removed.

locate any fire within a few minutes at any 4. A marine fire indicating system com- '75. b11116. rising a stationbox a pluraht of pipes By provlding the elbow 23, in the pipe 22-, eading therefrom to t e holds or unkers of 4 connect the union 24', with any of the pipes 6, even at the extreme rear of the station box. It will alsobe observed that I may provide any number of these flexible connections and valves so that several of the pipes 6 may be connectedwith the same time should it be necessary to'do so. In improvin the a ship, a fan mounted within said station box above said pi es,-an electric motor to operate said fan, an works, said wheel beinfi adapted to contact wit rushes to 0 en andclose the electric. circuit periodic y, an means to connect a steam pipe with any oi said pipes.

5. eherein described fire indicating system and extinguisher-com rising a station- I box, a plurality of pi es lea ing t erefrom to the several ho ds or unkersof a ship,"said .pipes: havin said box, ano

rovided with posts I electrical system for breaki'the current by means of the clock mechanism in arnuch more reliable manner; and as'the cloeliinechanism is mounted on the door 26,.of fj'station box, the circuit can be made and broken withoutbeing observed from without, and the current need not passthrough the clock mechanism, as was 1 the case where the hands carried the Fig.4, I have from which it the current may be cut off entirely by the switch 27; and by thejswitch 28, the current can be turned on to operate the fan at an time at the will of the operator y of the clock mechanism. Having thus described my invention, what I cla m as new. and desire to secure by-Letters, Patent of the United States-is servation tube slidably mount- 1 ed on each pipe, said observation tubeshav ing flaring ends, an electrically operated fan mounted within said boxabove said tubes, a clock provided with a contact wheel on the 95 hour hand shaft adapted to periodically make and break the circuit, an electric bulb adapted to H ht when saidfan is operated, an electric be adapted to be thrown into said circuit, and a switch adapted to throw the -cur-. 100 rent on said fan at the will ofthe operator, and means to connect a steam pipe with any 'ofsaidpipes." In testimony whereof I have signed my. name to this specification in the presence of 10: two subscribing witnesses.

1. In a marinefire-indicating system, a Y WILLIAM RICH.

:In the diagrammatic view,-

station box, a lu'rality of pipes leading L Witness'es: therefromto the olds orbunkers of a ship, PAULINE. E. Gmsnn, means to draw WILLIAM ,H. Maucnns'rnn.

through said, pipes into.

mounted on said screw-threaded end, said a wheel mounted on a clock screw-threaded ends within 

